Dragon fruit is a nutritious fruit with a unique appearance and texture. The taste of dragon fruit is basically like a mixture of pear and kiwi. It is loaded with various imperative micronutrients (like Vitamin A, C, E, B complex, calcium, potassium, magnesium as well as iron) and fibre. It has been traditionally used for various therapeutic purposes.

Biological activity

Antioxidant activity

It is loaded with antioxidants that help in reducing the concentration of free radicals in body hence prevent oxidative damages

Anti-inflammatory activity

• It contains various imperative biological components that help in preventing inflammation by decreasing the concentration of inflammatory markers in body
• It plays vital role in preventing joint swelling as well thus its consumption is thought to be very effective for improving the symptoms of arthritis

Hypolipidemic activity

Fibre present in dragon fruit helps in decreasing the concentration of LDL, VLDL and triglyceride in body, which ultimately reduces the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia

Anti-carcinogenic activity

• It exhibits potent anti-carcinogenic activity that helps in decreasing the prevalence of carcinoma

• Its oxidative stress reducing capacity is also considered as one of the most vital factors responsible for reducing the risk of developing cancers
• It plays vital role in suppressing the growth of malignant cells in body

Hypoglycemic activity

• It plays important role in regulating blood sugar concentration due to its hypoglycemic activity thus it can be easily included in the diet of a diabetic patient
• Fibre present in dragon fruit helps in delaying the absorption of glucose from intestine as a result helps in decreasing blood sugar spike

Health benefits

Role on immunity

• It plays vital role in improving the immunological responses of the body as it contains various immune boosting nutrients
• Its Vitamin C content plays important role in stimulating the synthesis of WBC, which helps to make the body able to fight against infections
• Whereas its Vitamin C and carotenoid components are also associated with protecting WBC from damages thus help in sustaining the activity of WBC as a result aids in lowering the prevalence of infectious diseases

Role on digestive health

• It is better to include dragon fruit in diet in order to obtain a healthy digestive system
• Fibre present in dragon fruit helps in improving bowel movement thus promotes regularity

• It contains adequate amount of prebiotics thus it helps in improving the balance of good bacteria within gut. It has seen that consumption of dragon fruit helps in promoting the growth of mainly bifidobacteria and lactic acid bacteria, both of which play vital role in promoting overall gut health
• It is also related with decreasing the susceptibility of gastrointestinal infections and helps to prevent diarrhoea too
• It helps to improve the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease as well

Role on skeletal system

• We all know that having a healthy skeletal system is very important as it helps in contributing various factors like lessening joint pain, avoiding injuries etc
• Consumption of dragon fruit is considered as one of the most effective ways for promoting overall skeletal health as it contains several nutrients that help in strengthening the skeletal system of the body
• Its calcium and phosphorus components play vital role in mineralizing bone, which ultimately helps in enhancing bone mass and bone mineral density as a result helps in reducing the prevalence of bone thinning hence decreases the susceptibility of fractures
• Its magnesium content also helps in bone metabolism
• Potassium present in dragon fruit also helps in preventing calcium loss from bone as a result helps in restoring bone mineral density

Role on eyes

• It contains adequate amount of beta carotene, which is considered as one of the most imperative nutrients for eye health thus it is better to include dragon fruit in diet for obtaining a healthy eye
• It helps to protect the eye from free radical induced oxidative damages as a result helps in decreasing the susceptibility of eye disorders and also helps in promoting vision
• It is also associated with preventing macular degeneration as well as cataract

Role on maternal health

• Consumption of dragon fruit is very beneficial during pregnancy as it contains several important nutrients that play vital role in promoting the health of mother as well as the fetus
• We all know that during pregnancy additional iron should be taken for increasing blood volume because it helps to support the synthesis of fetal blood and also helps in promoting iron reserve in body, which will ultimately help to restore the blood loss that will occur during delivery. It is thus better to consume iron rich food for reducing the prevalence of anemia, which is considered as one of the leading causes of maternal morbidity and mortality
• Dragon fruit can be a good choice for lowering these complications as it contains adequate amount of iron
• It contains significant amount of folic acid as well, which is also responsible for promoting the synthesis and maturation of RBC that helps to decrease the susceptibility of anemia too

• Whereas folic acid present in dragon fruit is also responsible for decreasing the prevalence of birth defects

Role on skin

• Dragon fruit is very helpful for making the skin healthy as well as supple as it contains various important nutrients that help in providing proper nourishment to the skin
• Vitamin B3 present in dragon fruit helps in moisturizing the skin
• Vitamin C found in dragon fruit is also accountable for improving skin elasticity
• Its Vitamin A content is responsible for improving skin barrier functions
• It is very effective for improving the symptoms of acne
• Antioxidant activity of dragon fruit helps in preventing then sign of aging
• It is also associated with soothing sun burned skin

Role on hair

• Consumption of dragon fruit is very effective for obtaining healthy, thick and shiny hair
• It contains various imperative nutrients that help in promoting hair growth
• It is also associated with preventing hair damages caused by artificial hair colouring
• It helps to improve the texture of hair as well
• If you want to have black, soft and shiny hair, try dragon fruit at least once a day or you can also consume dragon fruit powder with a glass of milk, it really acts like magic

Therapeutic uses

It has been widely used for various therapeutic purposes, which include –

• It acts as an important therapeutic substance for cardiac health. It contains various cardio-friendly nutrients that not only help in improving cardiac health but also reduces the susceptibility of cardiovascular diseases
• Its lipid lowering activity is responsible for decreasing the prevalence of atherosclerosis, which is considered as one of the leading causes of cardiovascular diseases
• It is also associated with decreasing the risk of developing coronary artery disease, angina pectoris and heart attack
• It helps to improve endothelial health and functionality too
• Its potassium content helps in preventing hypertension
• Magnesium present in dragon fruit is also related with improving the symptoms of arrhythmias by maintaining normal heart beat
• Its consumption is also associated with preventing anemia as it contains adequate amount of iron as well as folic acid, both of which are essentially required by the body for the synthesis and maturation of RBC and hemoglobin

Culinary uses

• It can be consumed fresh or in the form of juice
• It can be used for preparing smoothie
• It can be cut into salsa as well
• It can be churned into ice cream too
• It can also be used as topping for Greek yogurt
• It can be consumed with fruit salad as well

Hossain, F.M., Numan, S.M. and Akhtar, S., 2021. Cultivation, Nutritional Value, and Health Benefits of Dragon Fruit (Hylocereus spp.): a Review. International Journal of Horticultural Science and Technology, 8(3), pp.239-249.

Kumar, S.B., Issac, R. and Prabha, M.L., 2018. Functional and health-promoting bioactivities of dragon fruit. Drug Invention Today, 10.

Le, T.L., Huynh, N. and Quintela-Alonso, P., 2021. Dragon fruit: A review of health benefits and nutrients and its sustainable development under climate changes in Vietnam. Czech Journal of Food Sciences, 39(2), pp.71-94.

Perween, T., Mandal, K.K. and Hasan, M.A., 2018. Dragon fruit: An exotic super future fruit of India. Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, 7(2), pp.1022-1026.

XU, H., WANG, Q.L., WEI, G. and MO, J.G., 2010. The health benefits and research progress of Pitaya [J]. Journal of Guangxi Academy of Sciences, 3.